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TK Monster Explosion

I received the TK monster today from a friend who had just arrived from the States.
The package was brought back unopened from the original sender. I inspected the 8 green 18650 batteries that came with the light to check what kind of charge they were in. 4 of the batteries were at 100% and the other 4 had no charge. I charged the 4 batteries and came back to them shortly after to find them charged already. I carefully placed the batteries back into the light observing the polarity.
I powered up the light on low for a few second and it worked fine. I left the light to rest since it was still bright outside figuring I would save the surprise brightness for when it got dark.
Around 2 hours later I brought the light to my balcony. Low powered up with one push of the button. I waited 20 seconds before I pressed it one more time to bring it to the next level. Im not sure how long I waited till the next push because the next few minutes happened so fast.
Shortly after (maybe 3-5 seconds) being on high, I heard something in the light begin to sizzle. I felt a shock like a small explosion within the light. I dropped the light and as soon it fell on the floor it sounded like loud firecrackers popping. I jumped onto the bench to cover myself. There was one loud boom.
When the smoke cleared, I was in shock with so much glass around me. I inspected myself and found blood dripping on my left leg above the front side of my ankle, 1 inch cut on my left arm, 1 inch cut on my right side chest all caused by the shrapnel from the explosion.
Inspecting site where the explosion happened. The rocks on my balcony (where the light was dropped) parted from the explosion leaving an imprint. A few parts of the light were barely distinguishable. The actual light was launched from my balcony. Im writing this a few hours after the incident so I still have to look for the actual light tomorrow. I will upload pictures of the actual parts as soon as find it.
In the pictures you can see that the explosion was very powerful to dent the railings of the sliding door. Crack 3 panels of glass ¾ inch thick. Send glass shrapnel flying to get imbedded in a cement wall.
Im not blaming anyone for what happened especially Modamag and the seller of the light. Im putting out this thread to get insight on what went wrong and to make sure it doest happen to anyone. I knew this hobby is dangerous for the wallet but never to ones life
In the end, the light was expensive but the damaged it caused will cost alot more. Im just happy that I got out with minor cuts.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

Thanks for the concern guys.

Speaking of fumes, the entire house was filled with smoke. My wife ran out with fire extinguisher not knowing what happened.

I just tried looking for the light on the ground floor but couldnt find it. I live on the 33rd floor so the light must have been propelled to the empty field across the street. With the looks of the dent on the railing, it must have gone far

Re: TK Monster Explosion

Okay folks, we've got a new TKM owner here! This thing is the very definition of madness! I swear every time I load this thing up and flick it on, I feel like I'm touching off a bomb .

Not meaning to impune the maker of the light at all.

It seems a battery malfunction is the likely cause, not this kick-butt light. I just thought the post was topical, and Ironic.

I never saw this build before, but batteries aside, that is one sweet light!. I'm SOO sorry for what happened to you. It's quite frankly scary!

Another prophetic one;

Originally Posted by PsychoBunny

When you first turn it on, does it default to high, or low?

P.S. I assume you are using protected cells in this thing?
With 8 li-ions, you could have one heck of a pipe bomb!!

Question to the experts, for worst possible scenario of utter battery failure like this are Nimh's generally safer than Li ions? Would they explode with that much force (hoping not)? What are the safest types of batteries that still perform well for our purposes?

Re: TK Monster Explosion

Yet another reason to be satisfied with my single cell 18650. The shard of glass in embedded in the wall- is that from the lens? It looks very different than the tempered safety glass from the balcony. Your theory of the light "venting" , propelling backwards into the aluminum threshold of the sliding glass door whilst denting it and richocheing forward may be correct.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

What batteries were you using? Were they the cells that I see included with the light in the TK monster thread? I thought those were supposed to be safe.

I used the batteries that came with the TK light.

Originally Posted by Databyter

I was looking at the TK Monster thread and saw this prophetic post,

Not meaning to impune the maker of the light at all.

It seems a battery malfunction is the likely cause, not this kick-butt light. I just thought the post was topical, and Ironic.

I never saw this build before, but batteries aside, that is one sweet light!. I'm SOO sorry for what happened to you. It's quite frankly scary!

Another prophetic one;

Question to the experts, for worst possible scenario of utter battery failure like this are Nimh safer than Li ions, would they explode like that? What are the safest types of batteries that still perform well for our purposes?

Honestly, I didnt know it could be that dangerous.

I couldnt tell if the batteries were protected or not. They were color green and it said 18650 on it. There were words but I didnt notice a brand or if it said protected or not.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

Glad to hear you're OK albeit with minor injuries. It definitely could have been much worse with all that glass flying around!
I used to collect knives but kind of backed off a bit because I figured those things were dangerous.....

Re: TK Monster Explosion

I couldnt tell if the batteries were protected or not. They were color green and it said 18650 on it. There were words but I didnt notice a brand or if it said protected or not.

Thank goodness you are OK, you did the right thing by clearing out of there.

The only green 18650 cells I have seen are Sony....
On your cells is the -B end open like the pic below? Or does the heatshrink wrap around the end?

If the -B on your cells is unwrapped like mine, there is a chance the cell can short -B to +B through the body tube.

You said half the cells had no charge. You should have tossed those in the recycle bin. There is a higher risk of an internal short when the cells are depleted that severely. ~3.25V is the lower limit for these cells.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

33rd floor? I'm guessing that you live in Makati or the Fort area. I would gladly help you look for your light tomorrow if I was in Manila.
Hope no one in the area was hit on the head by your light, that would leave a mark! ouch!

Re: TK Monster Explosion

Originally Posted by dcaprilia

Thanks for the concern guys.

Speaking of fumes, the entire house was filled with smoke. My wife ran out with fire extinguisher not knowing what happened.

I just tried looking for the light on the ground floor but couldnt find it. I live on the 33rd floor so the light must have been propelled to the empty field across the street. With the looks of the dent on the railing, it must have gone far

Hey get yourself and anyone else that were there checked out with a doctor ASAP! A house full of fumes is a very serious.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

DCaprilia, I am very glad to hear you escaped with minor injuries only. It looks like you have a hefty repair bill but at least you walked away from what could have been much, much worse. Very scary stuff indeed.

Didn't I see something on here about getting yourself checked out by the medics if you breathed smoke from a lithium fire?

Please post any more pics / info when you know more so we can all learn a lesson from your near-miss.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

yikes.
how did po get 8x18650 batts in the holder? just checked my tk-40 and they are way too long.
a good reason why if your not familiar with a new product to READ THE MANUAL. that was a pipe bomb for sure. i just got a whole new respect for the li-ion batts. its a fun hobby, but IT'S NOT WORTH YOUR LIFE! please take the time and read through the battery section again.
glad you made it through it without too much body damage.
please keep us informed on your results.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

Originally Posted by hron61

yikes.
how did po get 8x18650 batts in the holder? just checked my tk-40 and they are way too long.
a good reason why if your not familiar with a new product to READ THE MANUAL. that was a pipe bomb for sure. i just got a whole new respect for the li-ion batts. its a fun hobby, but IT'S NOT WORTH YOUR LIFE! please take the time and read through the battery section again.
glad you made it through it without too much body damage.
please keep us informed on your results.

This isn't the TK40... It's another light, called the TK Monster...

I love my HDS/Ra Clicky... My only wish would be a 5th(accessible thru a 2click press) mode, and a 2AA tube.

Re: TK Monster Explosion

When the cells are dead, if you put back on charger, the charger light may turn green. It just mean it can't charge anymore, doesn't mean it's good cell, giving a false sense that it is full.

Always measure the voltage when it's off the charger before use!
If charger shows green light & the cell comes out isn't at least > 4.1 V, then cell need to be tossed.

8x18650 sounds crazy to me, a hand granade. The good cells could be reverse charging the dead cells & cause disaster.

If all 8 cells measured 4.2v when you put them in the light, then its possible a short somewhere.

I have personally shorted DX C sized Li-ions in two separate cases, the unprotected type, in a 2x C-Lion set-up. In both cases, the cell went really hot after short & killed itself, giving no voltage, so the light shut-off immediately & I immediately opened the light, the cell is so unbelivably hot that I could imagine it blow up if continue to stay in the flashlight, especially in a 8 cell set-up, where the 7 live cells start to reverse charging the dead one due to short.

One thing to watch out for is the proximity of the '+' screw to the '-' plate at the '-' end of the battery holder. I've accidentally shorted them in the course of screwing the tailcap on. I've since found a small plastic cap to cover the '+' screw and it's now ok. Other then this, it's AWESOME. Good for building up your arm muscles too!

Re: TK Monster Explosion

WOW! glad you dropped the light! It truly is like a pipe bomb with no emergency venting if internal pressure builds up. Wonder if people are going to start installing burst disks on their lights like they have on any pressurized tanks.